No. 2036 ISSN 1023 / 6996
FLAMINGO PARK 12:10pm (Monday) p.4
MONDAY 21st - THURSDAY 24th APRIL 2014
The Mouseketeer will be looking to set the record straight after his poor start last time
KENILWORTH 1:30pm (Monday) p.11
VAAL SAND 1:15pm (Tuesday) p.18
SCOTTSVILLE 12:55pm (Wednesday) p.30
VAAL 12:00pm (Thursday) p.37
LISTED HIGHVELD SAND CHALLENGE at Vaal on Tuesday
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Top jockey Robbie Fradd is back in town from the Australian Gold Coast and he is carded to ride our top rated sand performer Pylon in Tuesday’s R200 000 Listed Highveld Sand Challenge at the Vaal. The field includes last year’s winner The Mouseketeer and the runner up, and his stablemate, Taptap Makhatini.
he 49yo Fradd has definitely not returned home to ride Pylon. But he will take the lucrative commission with both hands, knowing that his main mission is Saturday’s Gr1 SA Derby,
Gr1 WINNER at 2
where he pilots the smart Louis The King, who stands on the brink of SASCOC Triple Crown Glory.
Well In
The cleverly named Pylon (Jimmy Lithgow was the creative mind behind it) is certainly handicapped to
win this race and his last two outings can be ignored as they were both on turf. His runner up effort in the 2013 Emerald Cup at his third last start was the cherry on top of an excellent run of sand performances and he will be a serious threat in this race.
His stablemate BrooksClub is a classy son of Strike Smartly, who has won on the sand. He ran a fair race in the Gr2 Colorado King Stakes last time when only 4,75 lengths behind Halve The Deficit.
Chances Dashed
The Mouseketeer is another top class sand galloper. He beat Taptap Makhatini a short head in this race last year. He meets Taptap on 5kgs better terms this time around. The Mouseketeer’s last effort when a close on
seventeen length fourth in the Listed Riverside Handicap was not a realistic reflection of his ability. The late withdrawal of the Naidoo trained Storm Surf that afternoon had left a vacant gate next to The Mouseketeer and after a lengthy delay the son of Kahal stood and ruined his chances at the jump. The fact that he actually managed to sneak into fourth was commendable. Jockey Fanie Chambers was not a happy man after that race and he will be keen to set the record straight here.
In The Ring
Piere Strydom rides the Albert Hall gelding Taptap Makhatini, who has had only one race since going down narrowly in the 2013 Highveld Sand Challenge. Cont. p.2